


Voicemail

by potterhead13



Category: Women's Soccer RPF
Genre: Angst, F/F, Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-28
Updated: 2016-03-02
Packaged: 2018-05-23 19:09:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6127138
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/potterhead13/pseuds/potterhead13
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sometimes just hearing her voice is enough. Sometimes it isn't.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own

 

 

Chisten looks down at her phone to see she has four new voicemails and several old ones. She tells herself she’s only going to listen to the new unheard messages but she finds herself listening to the messages of her past.

_“Chris! When are you getting here? Kelley is wasted already and everyone else is well on their way. I’m going to need backup! Get here soon before I lose my mind!”_

_“Babe, the dog chewed on my shorts. I’m taking yours, cool? It’s only fair.”_

_“I saw the most beautiful sunset today and I thought to myself it was the second most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. And then it got me thinking some more. I probably should wait to tell you this in person but I don’t think I can wait a second longer. I love you, Christen, and I’m so glad I have you in my life. I’ll see you when you get home in an hour. I love you.”_

Chisten listened to the first three messages with a huge smile on her face. She has every word of those voicemails memorized from how many times she’s listened to them late at night or when she needed a pick me up. They usually put her in a better mood or allowed her to fall asleep almost peacefully. She still finds it a little hard to fall asleep when she is alone in bed, but hearing Tobin’s voice calms her down enough she can almost pretend the lanky midfielder is there with her. Before she can stop herself she is listening to the last of her old messages. She tries to avoid listening to this one because of the memories it brings up. Unlike the other messages this one doesn’t make her feel better. This one adds to the disparaging emotions she has had for the past three weeks.

_“Hey Beautiful, I’m just calling to let you know I’ll be home later than expected. Things got a little hectic over here with the storm and all but I’m rushing to get home. I’m so happy you’re back from Chicago, hope your flight was okay. I can’t wait to see you... I love you.”_

That one is the last of her saved voicemails.

_“Hey, it’s Tobin. You know what to do!”_

_“Hey Tobin. It’s me again. I’m sorry it’s taken me so long. God it’s so good to hear your voice. You have no idea how much I miss you. It’s all the little things you never notice until they’re gone. I find myself missing all the things you did that drove me up the wall like putting the empty milk carton in the fridge or leaving your shoes in the middle of the hallway. The shoe rack was two feet away as you know. I’m still not convinced you weren’t doing it on purpose. Just, I miss you. There’s no way around it. The thing I probably miss the most though is seeing your smile and hearing your laugh. It was always the stupidest things that got the biggest laugh out of you. I remember that time—“_

Christen’s monologue was cut off by the tone signally the end of Tobin’s voicemail recording. She thought about calling back to just to say she would find time to go visit soon but figured she could just show up. It wouldn’t be a problem anyways. It never is anymore. She promises she’ll make some time to go see Tobin within the next few days.

 

* * *

 

 

The nervous tapping of fingers on the steering wheel is the only sound that can be heard in the car. Neither driver nor passenger have spoken a word since they parked the car. Neither have made a move to get out of the car either, one unwilling to face what is waiting for them about a hundred feet away without a little push. The other silently giving support she knows the other needs. Finally, after ten minutes of just the tapping on the steering wheel to occupy the space the driver makes a move to get out of the car. With what is supposed to be a calming inhale, but actually sounds quite shaky (the passenger choses to ignore it to give the driver some time to try to work through her emotions), the driver steps out of the car. She can feel the tears already pooling in her eyes but she is loath to allow them to spill over.

“Do you think we should get flowers? I think I saw a shop a few blocks away. We should go get some flowers.” The driver rambled on nervously, making a move to get back into the car. She was calmed down by the steady hand of the passenger on her shoulder.

“If you think she’ll actually appreciate the flowers we can go get some but I think you and I both know you’re just trying to put this off. You need this a lot more than you realize. I’ve watched you basically stop living for three weeks straight now. Its time you deal with this.”

Resigned to her fate the driver gives a stiff nod of her head and heads in through the doors of the building some feet away. The passenger notices the driver’s steps starting to stutter so she takes a hold of her hand and guides her through the building. Past the desk by the entrance and to the elevators. Having visited before she knew exactly where it was they were headed.

Around the corner from where they are headed the driver’s feet refuse to continue moving forward. “I don’t think I can do this.” The tears she tried so desperately to keep in earlier are now streaming down her face in silent confirmation of the heartbreak she is surely feeling. “Kelley please. Please. We can come back tomorrow. I’m not ready.” From the look on her face Kelley almost allows them to go home just to try again tomorrow, but they’ve already done this dance before. This will be their third attempt since Christen left after that first night.

As gently as she can Kelley tells her they won’t be leaving this time. “Christen,” is all she says before gently turning her back around and pushing her those last few feet.

Once at their destination they stop and stare at the door before giving a small knock. They hear a quiet “come in” before opening the door. The sight on the inside is something neither will ever get used to seeing and hopefully won’t have the time to try. Lauren sits with an open book in her lap looking up at the new guests to arrive.

“How is she?” Kelley asks. Christen hasn’t even looked at Lauren. Too focused on the body lying on the bed with bandages covering her head and wires connected to various parts of her body. If you can ignore the bandages and wires it just looks like she is sleeping. But she isn’t and Chisten knows it. Coma is what they told her the first and only night she has been at the hospital to visit Tobin. That horrible night she got that voicemail. The one that brings up memories she would rather forget. The one she is hesitant to listen to.

It was a car accident. The streetlights got knocked out during the storm and someone didn’t stop. They t-boned Tobin’s car. The other driver, of course, had barely any injuries. It isn’t fair Christen thought. Christen feels an immense amount of anger thinking about the accident. She almost lost Tobin. She could _still_ lose Tobin.

“Same as before. The doctors said it’s all up to her now when she wakes up.” Lauren is now standing and grabbing all of her belongings. She bends to place a kiss on Tobin’s forehead before making her way towards Christen whom she hugs and whispers in her ear, “Tobin’s a fighter. She won’t give up but she might just need a little guiding light to bring her back to us.” Lauren tells them she will be back in two hours to sit with Tobin again. She knows Christen can’t handle being around Tobin when she is like this for very long.

Christen takes Lauren’s vacated seat right next to Tobin’s bed and grabs her hand. The tears started before she got into the room and they still haven’t stopped creating steady rivulets of water down her face. Kelley pulls a chair next to her and grabs Christen’s hand in a show of support. She tells her how she’s heard it’s good to talk to coma patients because sometimes they can hear your voice. Christen’s grip on Tobin’s hand tightens as she bends down to whisper into Tobin’s ear about how much she misses her. How she needs to wake up so they can continue their life together. How she loves her. Christen eventually cries herself to sleep with her head resting on the bed by Tobin’s.

That’s how Lauren finds them when she comes back two hours later like she said she would. Christen asleep with dry tear stains on her face and Kelley quietly reading a magazine. “How is Christen, Kelley?”

“She’s been a mess Lauren. She doesn’t sleep well or eat enough. She can’t keep going on like this. She’s just wasting away and I don’t know what to do for her. The only person who can help her is lying in that bed right now.” Kelley feels her eyes filling with tears talking about what her friend was going through.

Lauren gives Kelley a hug and reminds her that Tobin _will_ wake up, it’s just a matter of when. The hushed whispers of their conversation was enough to wake Christen from her light slumber. She hadn’t been sleeping well without Tobin. They stay and talk with Lauren a little while longer. Mostly about safe topics so as to ease the heavy tension that has settled inside Tobin’s hospital room. Christen and Kelley decide it’s time for them to go home to let the dogs out and maybe finally get Christen to eat an actual meal. The car ride home is much like the one to the hospital. Quiet. Neither woman being in the mood for small talk.

They make it back to Christen’s place without a word being uttered between the two. Christen goes out back to let the dogs out and Kelley goes in the kitchen to see what she can make for dinner. Once the dogs have done their business Christen makes her way to the kitchen where Kelley has set out bowls of chicken noodle soup for the two of them. Comfort food she says. They predominately eat in silence until the hush is broken by the sound of choked sobs trying to break free of Christen’s mouth. Kelley moves to hug Christen and leads her to her room where she lays with her on her bed. Christen cries into Kelley’s shoulder for a while often mumbling about how it’s not fair. How Tobin should be there right now. How she doesn’t know how to live without her. Kelley sends up a silent prayer for Tobin to wake up soon. She isn’t sure how much more Christen can take. Exhausted from the emotional day Christen and Kelley both fall asleep cuddled in Christen’s bed with a dog on either side. Having someone with her while she sleeps lulls Christen into the deepest sleep she has had since the accident.

The beep of her phone on the nightstand alerts her to a new notification. With heavy eyes and a foggy brain, she glances at the clock to see the time; 7:13 am. She can’t believe she slept for almost twelve hours.

Chisten glances down at her phone and sees she has a new voicemail. She recognizes the number of the hospital and her heart immediately begins to race. She hesitantly picks her phone up to listen to the voicemail. Kelley is woken up by the sound of Christen sobbing and clutching Tobin’s pillow to her like her life depended on it. Kelley doesn’t know what is going on, only that her friend has just woken up and is now sobbing while clutching her phone. She can only assume that something on Christen’s phone has caused this new round of tears. She pries the phone from Christen’s fingers to see what has her so upset and sees the voicemail from the hospital. That feeling of dread she had upon seeing Christen sobbing has spiked tenfold. Christen is crying too hard for Kelley to understand what she is saying after Kelley asked her what is going on. She catches two words very clearly through her cries. Hospital and Tobin. She slowly lifts the phone to her ear to listen to what the hospital has to say about Tobin and upon hearing the scratchy voice of the person on the other end, lets out a cry of her own.

_“Hey Beautiful... God it's good to hear your voice. I’m just calling to let you know I love you and I’ll be home soon.”_


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own

Chapter 2:

 

Christen finds herself all alone in the house she shares with Tobin whilst said midfielder is in new jersey visiting her family. She has been gone for four days now and wouldn’t be back for another three. She has plans to go to a BBQ with Kelley at 5:30, but it was only 2:00.  She decided to give Tobin another call since she hasn’t returned her other two calls or texts.

_“Hey, its Tobin. You know what to do!”_ Straight to voicemail. Christen knew it meant Tobin’s phone was still off. She tried not to get anxious about the fact Tobin wasn’t answering her phone, mostly because it reminded Christen about Tobin’s accident, by telling herself she is probably on a hike or something and turned her phone off.

_“Hey baby, I was just calling to check in. I haven’t heard from you since last night. And of course because I miss you. Only three days until you’re back! Call me when you get this, please? I love you.”_

Christen decided to take the dogs on a long walk to quell the anxious feeling that was being to bloom inside of her chest. After about forty minutes later she sat on a bench in the shade to check her phone. Seeing that there was still no return call from Tobin that anxious feeling that had gone away twenty minutes before was beginning to make another appearance. She called her again.

_“Hey, its Tobin. You know what to do!”_ It didn’t go straight to voicemail this time but Tobin still didn’t answer.

_“Tobin, seriously what is going on? You’re starting to worry me. Please call me back?”_ Christen thought about texting one of Tobin’s sisters but decided she would wait another hour and if she hadn’t heard back by then she would. She only had two hours before she had to leave for the BBQ so she and the dogs walked back home to get ready for the party.

* * *

 

  _“Hey, its Tobin. You know what to do!”_ Frustrated tears began to fill her eyes. She had a little less than an hour to go before the BBQ and she still hadn’t heard from Tobin. Both of Tobin’s sisters haven’t returned her texts either. Kelley would be there soon to “pregame” so Christen was hoping that would distract her from the less than pleasant thoughts swirling around in her brain. _How hard is it to answer your phones?_

Christen told Kelley about the radio silence from Tobin and her family practically before she was even through the door. “Chris, quit worrying. I’m sure she is fine. Here. Give me your phone so you can stop worrying about it and try to have some fun. I promise I’ll bring it to you if she calls, okay?” Kelley told her while heading to the kitchen to make herself something to drink. She thought that maybe not having her phone on her would make it a little easier to enjoy the BBQ but she still worried. Of course she worried after what happened. Events like that stick with a person for a long time.

* * *

Christen was having a decent time at the party. Kelley’s friend’s house, whom Kelley said she would introduce her to later before running off, was absolutely gorgeous. At least the outside and back yard were. For some reason none of the guests were allowed in the house, something about the owner being a complete neat freak. The back yard was decorated with cute little lights strung around the yard’s perimeter and around the patio. The deck seemed like it was cleared of furniture so as to be used as a makeshift dance floor later on in the night.

The party guests seemed to be made up completely of she and Tobin’s friends. She found it a little odd she had never met, or even heard of, this friend of Kelley’s before seeing as they shared pretty much all the same friends. Christen even thought she saw Perry there but when she turned her head to look back Perry wasn’t there. Her anxiety almost reared its ugly head again after the “Perry sighting” but her friends did a well enough job of distracting her. Of course that didn’t stop her from thinking about the major apology Tobin owes her for making her feel like this all day.

Christen found herself sitting a little off to the side on a conveniently placed chair, secluded from the rest, as everyone was standing around talking and eating. She needed to take a moment for herself. Her friends hadn’t left her alone the entire time she had been there and now that they were busy eating she took her chance to wander away from the crowd. Now that christen has had a moment to herself she realizes she needs to thank Kelley because this was the distraction she needed to get her mind off of Tobin. Speaking of, she wonders if she has called back yet. She could see Kelley in a group of their teammates talking animatedly about something.

It’s almost like Kelley can feel Christen’s eyes on her because she looks up just as christen was about to turn away. The silent question in Christen’s eyes is pretty clear. _Has she called?_ The shake of Kelley’s head threatens to pull christen back into her bad mood from earlier, but she decides she is going to try and enjoy the rest of her night and give Tobin a major ear full whenever she finally speaks to her. At this point Christen knows Tobin is ignoring her. She overheard Lauren saying she spoke to her a couple hours before the party started.

* * *

 

Sometime later the dance floor was finally getting some use. It seemed that most of the party goers were out there dancing while christen was still sat in the same spot off to the side trying not to think about how Tobin should be there and how they should be up there having fun dancing with their friends. It wasn’t very late, only eight o’clock, but Christen found her eyes getting heavy and her mood steadily dropping.

While she was trying to come up with an excuse to tell Kelley about why she needs to leave early she feels a hand on her shoulder. Its Kelley holding out her phone. It had a notification for a new voicemail. From Tobin. “Hey, you’ve got a new voicemail. I guess the music was too loud for me hear it ringing.”

Christen looked at the phone in her phone. She was so bitter about Tobin ignoring her all day she thought about deleting it without even listening to it just to give Tobin a taste of what she had been going through all day. _Except she’ll never fully understand why I get so scared when I don’t hear from her._ She couldn’t do that though, her curiosity burned brighter than her anger.

_“If I start this with ‘I’m sorry’ and ‘I love you’ will that get me out of trouble? I can practically feel your eye roll from here at that. I am sorry for ignoring your calls though. Katy and Perry said to tell you they are sorry too. And I do love you. So much. These past two and a half years have been the best of my life. I never pictured my life turning out this way, you know? I didn’t think it was even possible to be this happy. But that’s just because I didn’t know you existed at the time. What I’m trying to say, christen, is that I didn’t really know what it meant to be truly happy before I met you, and I—” Christen_ was so focused on listening to the voicemail she didn’t hear the sliding doors behind her open, or the footsteps that were steadily approaching. She definitely didn’t hear the person kneel on the ground just a foot away. She did notice everyone staring at her. She at first thought it was because she was crying in the middle of the party, but then she noticed they were all sporting large smiles. She quickly realized everyone wasn’t look at her but behind her. She spun around and couldn’t stop the gasp that escaped her parted lips.  

“What I was trying to say before your phone rudely interrupted me… I am hoping you’ll give me a chance to try make you as happy as you’ve made me. So, Christen Annemarie Press, will you continue to make me the happiest person in the world? Will you marry me?” There was Tobin. With the biggest smile she had ever seen her wear and down on one knee with an open ring box in her splayed palm.

Christen walked up to Tobin, knelt in front of her, and kissed her slowly but passionately on the mouth. Then she got up, and walked away down the path to the front of the house with the light of her phone illuminating the way. Tobin didn’t know what was happening and could feel tears forming at the supposed rejection. Christen was her world. How was she supposed to survive without her? She was so lost in her thoughts she didn’t notice Perry holding out her phone to her. It had a new voicemail. From Christen. She lifted it to her ear and started laughing and crying at the same time. Then she took off down the same path Christen had just taken.

_“Yes!”_


End file.
